I love to bake. I love my kids. So it makes sense that I find a way to work those two loves together. My son loves cupcakes, and chocolate chip cookies. So it also makes sense that I put those together too. That’s right, I’m talking about chocolate chip cookie cupcakes.

At first I just threw in some chocolate chips, but the flavor I was looking for just wasn’t there. You couldn’t actually tell that they were “chocolate chip cookie” cupcakes. Then I got the grand idea to toss in some actual cookie dough. Getting the ratios just right, and the cooking times perfect took some time, but the result was well worth the extra effort.

For the cake, I made my own from scratch, a basic brown sugar cake. However, it is perfectly fine to use a box. In fact, it might even be that much easier. I would suggest a good buttery flavor, or even a chocolate flavor to work best. Now for the cookie dough, I just used my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. I used a cookie scoop (a number 60 scoop) but a tablespoon works too. The key is to get them as close to the exact same size as possible. I scooped them all out onto my cookie sheet. No need to leave the usual two inches between them, you aren’t baking them just yet. Once you’ve scooped them all out, go ahead and put them into the freezer. Let them completely freeze.

Next make your cake batter as usual. Line your cupcake pan with liners. Now the fun (fun-ish) part. Fill each cupcake cup half full. Any more and you will have a mess on your hands. You want to leave enough room to put in the cookie dough balls in, and still have the cupcake bake around it. Okay, so you’ve filled them half way. Place them into your preheated oven (at whatever temperature your recipe calls for). Set your timer for three minutes. When the timer goes off place one cookie duo ball into the center of each cupcake. Try not to eat the raw cookie dough by the handfuls. I hear thats bad. Put them back into the oven for the rest of the time required to bake. You want to bake them until the center is just set. You cannot poke with a toothpick to check for doneness with these, your toothpick will always come out dirty, covered with gooey yummy cookie.

Allow them to cool, and then frost with your favorite frosting. I chose a brown sugar buttercream. And then devour them!

-Stephanie Wright